Because
I have less free time this year, my reviews may be shorter than in previous
years.I have tried to give 4- and
5-star shows the full three-sentence treatment, but just provided the premises
for some of the less enjoyable shows.You can change the sorting column of the table below by first clicking
anywhere in its header.Each succeeding
click in the header sorts the table by the column clicked.Succeeding clicks of a column will reverse
the previous sort order.I have now
added a Date column so that returning viewers can sort by it to see my most
recent reviews. (The ranking numbers are bit messed up to allow this, but I
haven’t had the time to debug the change in Word that causes the problem)

Rank

Title and Review

Venue

Begins

Ends

Date

1.

Please Excuse
My Dear Aunt Sally (*****)

A math teacher
becomes enamored with her 15-year old student after finding remarkable photos
on his mobile phone.This play had all
the things I look for in a play: innovative set, fine acting, realistic
characters, sensitivity, and an emotional mix.As a nod to the mobile centric culture of
high school the play has their two mobile phones serve as expository devices
that comment on the situations.

Pleasance
Courtyard

12:50

14:00

16

2.

Chopping
Chilies (*****)

This one woman
show has an Indian martial arts guru coming to London to run his deceased
uncle’s shoe repair store, and proceeds to help his hippie neighbor with her
Indian restaurant.Clair Whitefield
brings both the dour Indian and the light restaurateur to life with equal
ease.Though the coincidence of shared
sandals is unnecessary, it does at a touch of magic that fits the story.

Assembly Roxy

14:50

15:50

5

3.

Fresher (*****)

The university
sends ten freshmen to a small room where they must use drama therapy to
address their various offenses that range from date rape to cyber bullying to
petty theft.Each case is uniquely
handled with a mix of debate, re-enactment by others, and denial.The two highlights were an anti-feminist
Russian who constantly pointed out biases towards women in British society,
and a scene where a plutocrat finally identifies with an unfortunate person.

Pleasance
Courtyard

11:45

12:45

3

4.

A Streetcar
Named Desire (*****)

A large Georgian
troupe presents Tennessee Williams’ play about a woman who comes to stay with
her sister in New Orleans and is confronted with her uncouth husband.The entire production is top notch, with
the actress playing Blanche conveying her mix of disgust, fragility, and
reluctant hope perfectly.Though the
story is in Russian the brevity of the lines of the play is perfectly suited
to supertitles.

Assembly Roxy

13:55

15:30

18

5.

Hamlet in Bed
(*****)

A foundling who
is obsessed with Hamlet finds a diary that leads him to a woman who may be
his mother, and then casts her as Hamlet’s mother in a play in which he is
Hamlet.What starts out feeling like a
stalker tale, expands as the world of acting and the Bard reveals much deeper
characters.

Pleasance
Courtyard

14:10

15:25

9

6.

Sleeping Trees:
Sci-Fi? (*****)

Three fellow
backed with two musicians create an inspired spoof of Star Wars based sci-fi
movies.With no sets, no props, and no
costumes they take us on a wild ride of imagined Darth Vader death grips, and
pistol packing robots.I must warn
others that you have to love sci-fi AND be in the right mood to enjoy this.

Pleasance
Courtyard

17:00

18:00

27

7.

Out of the Blue (*****)

The guys from Oxford were back with their great songs and
choreographed hijinks for one of their most diverse show in years.One of my traditions is to see them on the
last day of the Fringe when they are decked out in kilts, and they are aware
that it is their last concert before this group disbands.Besides the music, it is always touching to
see their camaraderie.

Assembly George
Square

14:45

15:35

29

8.

My Eyes Went
Dark (*****)

A successful
architect has trouble dealing with the loss of his family when two planes
collide.This intense play touches on
themes of justice, and personal loss in an ambiguous way I’ve rarely
seen.There are no black and whites
here.

Traverse

varies

varies

12

9.

Once…(*****)

The Derovo troupe presents a tale of a tongue-tied streets
sweeper who falls in love with a waitress who is enamored with a wealthy,
stylish patron.The surreal show
careens from semi-realism to Keystone Kopchases to sword and sorcery fights
with surprisingly accessible physical theater.

Assembly George
Square

11:30

12:50

10

10.

Mungo Park:
Travels in the Interior of Africa (*****)

Three men
create a “blockbuster” based on the life Mungo Park, a real life 18th
century physician who was the first Westerner to explore Western Africa.This has entertaining mix of adventure,
simple hardware props, a turntable, drama, with a dash of whimsy.The production does a great job of
conveying the privations of the two expeditions as well as the African cultures
that he came upon.

Summerhall

20:45

22:05

6

11.

Camille O’Sullivan : The Carny Dream (*****)

As usual, the
Irish singer provides a show that mixes ballads and rock with theatrics using
her Edith Piaf voice to its full effect.I see her every year because she never fails to create

Underbelly
Circus Hub

20:30

22:00

9

12.

Joe Stilgoe:Songs on
Film (*****)

The jazz
pianist, with a bassist and drums, mixes medleys and jazz interpretations of
famous songs from film.Though his
medleys were well compiled, I wish he had shortened the jazz, and played more
of the songs themselves.

Assembly
Checkpoint

20:20

21:25

7

13.

Mouse - The
Persistence of an Unlikely Thought (*****)

Daniel Kitson plays a storyteller who receives a wrong number
call, and then carries on with call.Kitson alternates between brief excerpts from the
storyteller’s life, and skillful interactions with the pre-recorded
caller.Though the show is supposed to
be eighty minutes long, it turned out to be two hours, which was too much for
my companion.

Traverse

22:20

23:20

12

14.

The Marked
(*****)

A homeless man
must regain his faith in man before he can deal humanely with his
community.The ragged puppets and
protagonist’s pervasive skittishness beautifully convey the disarray, danger,
and fragility of the environment of the homeless.Little things like a simple bird puppet
that moved surprisingly naturally, and referring to a magic torch as a
metaphor, raise this story to another level.

Pleasance Dome

13:30

14:30

15

15.

PssPss (****)

The two mute
clowns return to work their gymnastic magic while conveying their emotional
states in delightful ways.Their work
with an inverted step ladder is inspired, and her facial expressions are so
winning.This is just a fun show you
shouldn’t miss.

Assembly Roxy

16:00

17:05

18

16.

Only Bones
(****)

Without leaving
a one meter circle and almost no words, Thomas
Monckton uses his body parts to create an amazing variety of stories, images,
and movements.Who would believe that
painting finger nails or an extra sock could be so entertaining?The highlight was watching him act like his
neck could not support his head unless his head was perfectly balanced above
his shoulders.

Summerhall

20:30

21:15

27

17.

All Quiet on
the Western Front (****)

We follow the
lives of five young German soldiers as they suffer the privations, and
occasional joys of the First World War.Though there were a few battle scenes, the heart of the story lies in
their experiences away from front lines.The visit back home by one is particularly heart wrenching as the
townsman of his village have no idea of what he has been through.

Pleasance
Courtyard

13:45

14:45

27

18.

Jules Verne’s
Extraordinary Voyages:The Lighthouse
at the End of the World (****)

After pirates overrun
his Cape Horn lighthouse, the keeper and a shipwreck survivor try to delay
their ship’s departure.I didn’t know
the story, and the cast of five just made this a rip-roaring adventure of
resourcefulness for me.While it may
not suit others, for me it was a perfect rendering that relied on suspense
and cunning instead of sword fights.

C Nova

16:45

17:45

20

19.

Angel by Henry Naylor(****)

This solo
performance has a Syrian teenage girl is suddenly trained by her father to
defend their orchard, and then is thrust into the current conflict.This story reveals both the plight of all
of the non-combatants in a war with fluid front lines, and the sexual abuse
of girls in the war.The play has a
great mix of adventure and cultural revelations.

Gilded Balloon
Teviot

19:00

20:00

25

20.

Dark Vanilla
Jungle (****)

A neglected
15-year old girl finds solace in the arms an older man who takes advantage of
her.This is a very intense play as
the girl creates an ever more fantastical world to deal with her own horrific
experiences.I had rated this among
the best plays a few years ago, and the acting was again excellent this time,
but I think the stage direction having her move among the audience really
diminished the sense of isolation that gave the original so much power.

C Nova

18:15

19:25

20

21.

Underminded (****)

In 1984, a
young coal miner tells of his experiences during the long strike when
Thatcher decided to close many of the coal pits.Whether describing the confusion and retreat
in the face of a mounted police, or confronting his best friend who becomes a
scab, each scene has the details and depth of emotion to keep me always
focused on the story.This darker
version of the events was all the more interesting as a counterpoint to Mark
Thomas’ celebratory version of the events in “Mark Thomas:The Red Shed”

Zoo

17:00

18:00

15

22.

Mark
Thomas:The Red Shed (****)

For the 50th
anniversary of his hometown’s socialist social club, the activist comedian
agreed to provide speakers and learn whether his own memory of a miner’s
march is accurate.Thomas is his usual
sincere and thorough self while presenting the tale of his search in a very
entertaining way.

Traverse

varies

varies

6

23.

Meet Fred
(****)

A three-person,
two-foot tall puppet comes alive when he is lifted from his box, talks with
the play’s director, and then tries to get a job through a council employment
bureau.The mix of his awareness of
both his self and his three puppeteers, and the difficulties of making his
way with humans and the huge physical world is both great fun, and touching
at times.A key moment is when his
Puppet Allowance is reduced by the job counselor, and he must decide which
puppeteer must be fired.

Summerhall

15:55

17:00

14

24.

The Bookbinder
(****)

With just a few
books, some knickknacks, and a desk lamp as props, a bookbinder of olde tells a wondrous tale of an apprentice who falls
into another world where he learns to not take shortcuts in his job.This is a well honed
tale by a personable and expressive fellow that is suited to both adults and
grammar school children.The large
pop-up book and simple shadow work seem perfectly suited to the story in this
small venue.

Pleasance
Courtyard

13:00

14:00

4

25.

A Tale of Two
Cities: Blood for Blood (****)

This play has
virtually nothing to do with the Dickens story, and is instead about a French
mother whose son was run over by a nobleman vows to kill all of his
descendants after the French Revolution.The seven cast members create a world of many characters with their
own subplots that all contribute to the overarching story.I loved how all the pieces finally come
together to make the finale perfectly plausible.

Pleasance
Courtyard

14:40

16:10

16

26.

Love, Lies, and
Taxidermy (****)

While his
father futilely tries to re-unite with his mother, a young man falls in love
with a woman whose father’s ice cream truck business is failing.From porn bathtub scenes to selling stuffed
animals on E-bay, each solution to their problems is quirky but
realistic.Though the story has its
share of shady dealings, it makes sure to avoid the black and white trap, and
utilizes the winning chemistry of the three actors to the fullest.

Summerhall

13:35

14:45

17

27.

Growth (****)

After a girlfriend
notices a bump on one of his testicles, a down and out young man constantly
imagines the worst.His interactions
with his family and the NHS mine the serious aspects of his situation while
providing both caring and amusing support.Though long awaited, the finale provides a satisfying conclusion that
addresses his greatest need.

Summerhall

13:35

14:45

8

28.

Moscow Boys
(****)

A string
quartet plays a wide range of music while dancing.The music ranges from classical to themes
from James Bond movies to Pink Floyd, and the dancing ranges from physical
theater to tap.Though the four men
are always engaging, much of the last 20 minutes offered little new.

Zoo Southside

20:35

21:50

28

29.

Saturday Night
Forever (****)

Well after breaking
up with his boyfriend over dancing, a man thinks he meets a less flamboyant
man of his dreams.The romance is
lovingly slow and well told without being too graphic.I know it is a minor point, but I was
impressed by the versatility of six light towers composed of lines of LEDs
that were used to both create the club scene backdrops, and emphasize
emotional states.

Underbelly Med
Quad

19:10

21:00

18

30.

The Six-Sided
Man (****)

To charge of
one’s life, a therapist advocates using a die to choose from an intentionally
wider range of six choices created by his patient.While the idea is well conceived, the real
charm of the show is having the two men interact as they mime through a whole
romance for the patient over a series of sessions.The age and professionalism of the actors
brings a gravitas to the show that a young cast could not achieve.

Assembly Roxy

11:50

13:00

24

31.

Small Hours(****)

Two
twenty-something close friends review their many late hour chats.I found most touching a scene where one woman
starts to sing “their” song, and must start again before her friend finally
gives in and shares the song.

C Nova

16:20

17:05

3

32.

A Regular
Little Houdini (****)

In the working
man’s world of early 20th century Newport, Wales, a young man attempts
to emulate his escape artist idol.Though Daniel LLewelyn-Williams does do a couple of magic
tricks, he relies on apt descriptions of his training to really convey the
boy’s determination.Williams also
works hard to bring the life of the dockworkers at the time, but he switches
characters too subtly at times.

Pleasance Dome

12:20

13:20

20

33.

Waves (****)

In the 1930s,
an Australian girl living on a very small island learns to swim by trying to
emulate a series of sea creatures.This is a heartwarming story of a naïve child overcoming a fear of the
sea, and growing stronger as she adapts to it.We were so mesmerized by the tale that we
had not realized it was fiction until we researched it.

Summerhall

10:10

11:00

23

34.

Horse McDonald
in Careful (****)

Horse gives a
deeply felt account of her life as an outsider when gays were persecuted by
fellow students, doctors, and people in general.She tells poignant stories of hiding in her
room to escape the bullying, dealing with a damaged vocal cord, and, after 50
years, discovering her soul mate.With
snippets of her songs punctuate the stories and highlight her exceptional
voice, the with only the section dealing with the death of her parents

Gilded Balloon
at the Museum

19:30

20:30

3

35.

One, Two, Three,
Yippee (****)

The three young
adult children have their ineffective lives changed when their rough crime
boss father returns to town, and reasserts his power over it with terrible
violence.Each of his children
responds to his return in quite different ways, and learn that suddenly
becoming powerful may not make their lives better.I was impressed with sheer power of self
that the father exuded in all situations.

theSpace at
Surgeons Hall

23:00

0:30

6

36.

Equations for a
Moving Body (****)

Hannah Nicklin
tells of her life as it relates to her two year goal
of participating in an Ironman triathlon.She keeps this interesting by mixing descriptions of her training
regimen with anecdotes from her dealings with the other people involved in
the sport.I was touched by her
tribute to John Lam, a professional snowboarder who died snowboarding after
he helped her train for the marathon part of the triathlon by running
alongside her.

Summerhall

11:00

12:20

14

37.

Michael
Griffiths: Cole (****)

The
pianist/singer presents Cole Porter’s life while singing many of his
hits.Both his voice and playing
suited to his role as the wealthy, erudite composer.I particularly liked that instead of
medleys he chose to play extended versions of songs that included less frequently
heard verses.

Assembly George
Square

18:00

19:00

17

38.

Kursk (****)

In 2000, a
British submarine is tasked to find and photograph a new Russian submarine
that is somewhere in the Bering Sea.With
a cast of seven in diverse roles, this show provides an excellent view of
life aboard a modern submarine with all of its privations and complex
routines.The only false note is the
captain’s explicit self-doubt on a couple occasions.

Bedlam Theatre

13:25

14:35

25

39.

Jane Eyre: An
Autobiography (****)

Rebecca Vaughn
portrays Jane all the way from childhood to her marriage to Master
Rochester.Even though I was not
familiar with the story, I found her story clear, and always interesting.Unlike other Vaughn ventures, the script
leaves her room to breathe and take the time act instead of rushing to get
all of the words into the time slot.

Assembly Roxy

11:15

12:45

21

40.

Mrs. Roosevelt
Flies to London (****)

In 1942, the wife
of President Franklin Roosevelt comes to Britain as his eyes and ears to
learn of the country’s condition and to promote plans for improvements after
the war ends.The play does a good job
of balancing the tales from her actual trip and her life story with FDR.At each stop, her short speeches made it
clear that she appreciated the efforts by the men, and particularly women
workers.

Assembly Hall
Mound

12:15

13:30

6

41.

Big Bite-Size
Breakfast Show (Menu Two) (****)

The five
comedic pieces for this menu are:1) a
wife and her clown husband visit a marriage counselor; 2) two separate
couples carry on conversations that have phrases that coincide despite having
opposite tenors;3)a crime mob’s traditional killer and his
wife discuss an odd request from his boss;4) an elderly rural couple argue over the arrival of a mule in their
front yard;and 5) two policemen
callously deal with widow of man killed by a bear.

Pleasance Dome

10:20

11:20

7

42.

Queen Lear
(****)

Like Stoppard’s
“Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead,” this show takes minor characters of
a Shakespeare play, and lets them elaborate on their events.Here we have King Lear’s wife suffering
through a painful, overlong, pregnancy being attended by a physician and a midwife
who are both caring and loyal.The
whole story is both tender, and tragic.

Assembly Roxy

16:10

17:10

9

43.F

Buzz: A New
Musical (****)

This story
combines a history of personal vibrators with a woman trying to get over her
musician lover jilting her. This is
definitely not a show for everybody, but it was just great fun for both of
us.A large part of its success rests
with the winning personality of the lead as she participates in almost all of
the scenes.

Greenside at
Infirmary Street

20:45

21:45

23

44.

The Pianist
(****)

This time the
physical theater artist Thomas Monckton of “Only Bones” plays a concert
pianist who must deal with Murphy’s Law to the extreme.His challenges range from the initial
curtain having no entry seam to a piano leg that falls off to piano stool
that is too high.Monckton is a master
of exploring the comic possibilities of any situation.

Assembly Roxy

12:25

13:25

29

45.

Hess (****)

Derek Crawford
Munn plays an old Rudolf Hess, Hitler’s deputy, serving a life sentence in
Spandau Prison who presents his autobiography and his ultra-nationalist
views.The fellow next to me whispered
to me that he thought Hess a psychopath, but I think Munn was persuasive in
showing how a well educated man like Hess could
reasonably believe that totalitarian nationalism was a legitimate path for
Germany after World War I.The play
provides a finely wrought portrayal of a complex man who not only help found
Nazi Germany, but independently tried to sue for peace with Britain, and was
found innocent of the crimes of the Holocaust.

Gilded Balloon
Teviot

15:00

16:15

13

46.

Breakfast
Plays: How to Ruin Someone’s Life from the Comfort of Your Own Beanbag (****)

A hacker walks through
the use of Internet resources to find out about someone, and then declare
them dead.As a Computer Scientist, I
found it illuminating as well as scary.Just another way we can harm each other.

Traverse

9:00

9:50

25

47.

Diary of a
Madman (****)

When his son
takes a break, the sole painter of the Forth Bridge accepts a university
intern to replace him, and live in his bedroom.The story and acting were fine, but I had
trouble understanding the lead at times because of his accent.The devastating finding of the intern was a
great plot twist.

Traverse

varies

varies

11

48.

Care Takers
(****)

A new drama
teacher takes her concerns that a student is being bullied to her
unsympathetic assistant head teacher.The acting is superb, the ratcheting up of their tension precise, and
the finale well conceived.However, the supervisor was so
unnecessarily craven, and bigoted that she seemed a straw man instead of a
real person.

C

18:35

19:40

23

49.

Teatro Delusio (****)

With mute performers
wearing masks, and manipulating a multi-person puppet, this show has three
backstage workers at an opera house dealing with a wide range of performers
as well as each other.The variety of
masks and the performers ability to communicate despite their immobility were
a delight.The show does seem to go on
a bit long, as evidenced by the audience readily applauding when they mistook
a fake curtain call as the real end.

Pleasance
Courtyard

13:45

15:00

24

50.

Blush (****)

This two hander
explores how sexual interactions on the Internet can damage people.Though one story covers disrespectful
tweets, the bulk of the show looks at how nude selfies can be abused.The main problem for the show is that the
shifts among the female characters are often not clear.

Underbelly
Cowgate

18:00

19:00

26

51.

Penny Arcade : Loving Lasts Longer (****)

The performance
artist gives her own take on her life and the events of the decades, and
dispenses advice and how to be more satisfied with one’s life by rejecting the
social norms.She certainly has a
presence on stage, but I was left the impression that her advice suited her
own life much more than that of the audience that supports her.

Assembly
Checkpoint

18:55

19:55

5

52.

Bricking It
(****)

A young woman
and her 73-year old contractor father combine to create a show of their lives
by him telling stories and dad gags, and her building a brick wall on
stage.This is not great theater, but
the love and respect that the father and daughter have permeates the whole show
to make it sweet but not saccharine.A
good example of this was the gentle way she gave him stage directions between
some scenes.

Pleasance Dome

17:30

18:30

5

53.

9 to 5 (****)

This musical is
a faithful adaptation of the 1980 film that has three female office workers
stage a secretly usurp their male chauvinist boss.The choreography and singing are fine, but
this comes across as a musical based on the title song.It seemed that it was always playing in the
background, and all of the new songs paled by comparison.

Assembly Mound

11:30

13:50

12

54.

The Humble
Heart of KomradeKrumm
(****)

In 4016, after
a series of ice and hot ages, twelve chilly middle ages like people gather to
tell and sing the tale of a girl as she seeks the temple of the heroic KomradeKrumm to help save
Great Britain.The show rotates
through communal songs, a translated descriptions of the quest, and
fantastical stories of the 21st century’s KomradeKrumm’s bravery in space and war.The early, beautifully sung song about how Great
Britain has better trees and mountains than anywhere else sets the tone for a
tongue in cheek production that requires a lot of suspension of disbelief by
the audience.

Bedlam Theatre

13:30

14:30

7

55.

Us/Them (****)

Two teenagers
re-create the experience of the 777 children hostages during the three-day Chechnyan terrorist siege of their Russian school in
2004.From the initial chalk drawings
of the school layout to the lads embarrassment at
taking his shirt off in the hot gym in front of the girl, the two do a
beautiful job of evoking the atmosphere of a grammar school.The re-enactment of the terrorists
switching the man with his foot on the trigger for the many bombs every two
hours maintained the sense of threat throughout the piece.

Summerhall

10:00

11:00

17

56.

Glasgow Girls
(****)

This musical is
based on the true story of five high school girls who lead a protest against
the attempted deportation of their asylum seeking friend.While the story is certainly heart warming, most of the songs and many of the lines
were unintelligible to my American ears.I was left with the feeling that the show relied more on the
audience’s reaction to the actual events and less on anything particularly
outstanding in their portrayal.

Assembly Mound

14:20

15:50

12

57.

The Club (****)

Partners in a
1990s nightclub must deal with a debt that is due a dangerous loan
shark.What starts out as a crass
druggy story quickly changes into an exploration of a quirky and deep
friendship.These guys seem shallow,
initially but by the end, I really treasured their friendship.

Gilded Balloon
Teviot

17:00

18:00

29

58.

EnFolkefiende (***)

A scientist
discovers that the local spa is poisonous, but her brother, the mayor, tries
to force her to squash the report to protect the town’s economic
interest.The play does an excellent
job of revealing the political machinations in the face of unpleasant
truths.The glass cube set was an
interesting idea, but the failure of some characters’ microphones meant that
many in the audience could not hear them.

Pleasance Dome

17:00

18:20

16

59.

Fabric (***)

A working girl
marries a posh guy, and then gets raped by his close friend.Great acting, but I was tired of seeing so
many rapes and abuses of women at this years
Fringe.

Underbelly
Cowgate

11:55

13:05

27

60.

The Wives of
Others (***)

Seven mobster
women family members get together while their husbands and fathers hit
another gang.The matter-of-fact
conversations among the crass Italians is fun, and the plot twists keep
things interesting.However, I found
the final act tedious with its long harangue by a daughter, extended needling
by a threatened cop, and predictable blood bath.

C

19:55

20:55

20

61.

The View from
Castle Rock by Alice Munro (***)

In 1818, a
Scottish family sails to Canada.

artSpace
at St. Mark’s

12:30

13:30

26

62.

William
Shakespeare’s Long Lost First Play (abridged) (***)

The veteran
comedy trio try to condense all of Shakespeare’s plays into one that has an overarching
plot of Puck and Ariel trying to outdo each other by monkeying around with
the other characters.This gives them
the opportunity to make clever changes to a wide range of well
known passages, but also requires them to make endless costume changes
that become tedious.The big flaw is
that the enmity between Puck and Ariel feels too contrived and cannot hold
the pieces together.

Pleasance
Courtyard

16:40

18:00

23

63.

Travesty (***)

This two hander
has a standard romance story where boy meets girl, they decide to live
together, and then they grow apart, except that the boy is played by a woman,
and the girl is played by a man.The
sincere and witty script tries hard to ignore the gender switch, and leaves
it to the audience to note any situations that seem awkward physically.For me, I noticed that the actor often held
the actress’ face which seems uncommon to me.

Assembly George
Square

17:30

18:30

22

64.

Big Bite-Size
Breakfast Show (Menu Three) (***)

This menu has
five plays:1) at an audition an actress
must contend with an abusive casting director; 2) a married couple deal with
their unsuccessful attempt at sado/masochism; 3) a
man whose been alone on a large spaceship for many years finally has contact
from intelligent life; 4) vignettes exploring where a woman responds to a man
speaking to her through her front door; and 5) a business meeting with a
leader who drones on and on.

Pleasance Dome

10:20

11:20

4

65.

Big Bite-Size Breakfst Show (Menu One) (***)

This menu has six
plays: 1) a team leader tries to teach how to collect for a cat charity; 2)
two political prisoners don’t trust each other; 3) two women practice a
kidnapping; 4) a global Internet company supplies the things you want without
you having to order them; 5) a man can always see two minutes into his
future; and 6) three high school kids argue that Hamlet was gay.Though all were entertaining, only 4 and 6
were the least bit thought provoking.

Pleasance Dome

10:20

11:20

26

66.

Playing Maggie…
The Iron Lady (***)

Pip Upton plays
another actor who impersonates Margaret Thatcher.The play flows from his dressing room to
performance as Maggie, and then, in a further departure from such shows,
he/she takes questions for Thatcher from the audience for a full half hour.His answers are well reasoned within
Thatcher’s philosophy, and he rarely ducks difficult questions.

Pleasance
Courtyard

12:30

13:30

9

67.

Oliver Reed:
Wild Thing (***)

Robert Crouch
portrays the actor as he careens through life drinking and wenching with commoners and celebrities at every
turn.Starting with four real beers,
Crouch takes on the role with a gusto suited perfectly to his subject.The amount of liquid he consumes in the
hour is amazing, and serves as a touchstone to the excesses of the man.

Gilded Balloon
Teviot

22:00

23:00

14

68.

Mark Thompson's
Spectacular Science Show (***)

Though this
science show is oriented toward children, it was a wonderful reminder of
those science demonstrations of my childhood.The experiments varied from Alka-Seltzer powered film canister rockets
to pouring super chilled water to create ice stalagmites to a Whamo-blaster made of a garbage bin and a table cloth
that shot smoke rings across the room.I was never bored, and often amazed.

Gilded Balloon
at the Museum

16:30

17:30

13

69.

Van Gogh Find
Yourself (***)

Walter DeForest takes on the persona of Vincent Van Gogh
magically transported to 2016 as he sketches members of the audience, and
relates aspects of Van Gogh’s life in response to questions.While his sketchers are not in the style of
Van Gogh, he does a remarkable job of staying in character and weaving in a
fairly complete (auto)biography of the painter.Along the way, he asserts that both the
slicing of his ear, and the gunshot that killed him were the actions of
others who he chose to protect.

Natural Food Kafe

14:25

15:20

14

70.

Panti:
High Heels in Low Places (***)

The Irish drag
queen tells colorful tales full of allusions to gay sex of how he became the
national symbol for LGBT rights in Ireland.

Traverse

varies

varies

11

71.

Bubble Schmeisis (***)

A Jewish boy
goes to summer camp, and is taken by his grandfather to his first steam bath.

Summerhall

15:00

16:00

25

72.

Rose of Jericho
(***)

The son of an abuser
becomes a soldier and tries to curb his violent tendencies towards his wife
though four tours of duty in the world’s trouble spots.Great acting, but I was tired of hearing of
abusers at this year’s Fringe

theSpace at
Surgeons Hall

17:05

17:55

25

73.

Stories to Tell
in the Middle of Night (***)

Like a late
night DJ, Francesca Millican-Slater calmly tells
innumerable stories ranging from a man who starts to walk around his block
each morning to “keep the world turning” to another fellow who creates valentines
between two people based on the contents of their bins.

Summerhall

10:15

11:15

28

74.

Milk (***)

This play has
three stories that are only tangentially related to each other: 1) the
daughter of a prostitute tries get her friend to show he cares for her; 2) an
elderly couple cling to each other as he becomes fearful of the world; and 3)
a couple must deal with an unhappy baby.The tales are diverse and fresh with fine acting throughout.However, the punishment for the father, and
his wife’s reluctance to get help over such a long period of time both seemed
veer from reality.

Traverse
Theatre

varies

varies

19

75.

Le Bossu (***)

This is a clean
retelling of “The Hunchback of Notre Dame.”Esmeralda was beautiful and exotic, Quasimodo sincere and naïve, and
Archdeacon Frollo stern and conflicted.

Bedlam Theatre

18:00

19:05

7

76.

A Boy Named Sue
(***)

A young
teenager who pimps himself online finds comfort in the flat of a gay doctor
who is concerned about his reclusive lover.Each of the three is leery of the world, and must find a way to
re-connect with their significant others.The choice to have the doctor living in an unrealistic flat with glass
exterior walls (whether metaphorical or not) diminishes the realism of the
play, and with that it’s power.

C Nova

18:25

19:20

10

77.

Poena
5X1 (***)

A
businesswoman/scientist presents a talk about a drug that can be used to
punish people by causing nightmares.Though the story starts out exploring the ethical issues when dealing
with criminals, it veers off into a less interesting story that is more
personal to the scientist.In
hindsight, the play starts of poorly with her having to deal with
inexplicable problems with her video presentation.

Underbelly Med
Quad

15:20

16:20

20

78.

Guy Masterson:
Love and Canine Integration (***)

Actor/director
Masterson turns his talents to performing a stand-up routine based on his
courtship of his German wife who was an international model, and then dealing
with her dog from hell.His tale of
wooing is endearing partly because he reveals how it was she who seems to be
in control instead of this usually dominant man.Though he offers dad gags as one
intermission, his use of Barbie and Ken dolls is a sexually crude form of
blackout for the overlong, repetitive tale about her dog.

Assembly Roxy

17:40

18:40

3

79.

Last Call (***)

A woman
narrates a Dutch graphic novel following a day in the life of a young woman
that is presented on a video screen while a pianist accompanies her.This unique production had interesting
moments, but had troubles keeping a good pace as the complexity of the panels
varied widely.The subplot with car
keys made little sense.

Summerhall

22:40

23:45

16

80.

Nel
(***)

At the behest
of her boss and friends, a content foley artist
tries to change her life by becoming more outgoing.He exploration of sound effects was novel
and charming.

Pleasance Dome

15:00

16:00

3

81.

The remains of
Tom Lehrer (performed by Adam Kay) (***)

Kay talks about
the ditty writer/performer’s life, and presents many of his songs.This was probably a very good show, but I
had a headache that made it difficult to concentrate.

Gilded Balloon
Teviot

15:45

16:45

28

82.

A Series of
Unfortunate Breakups (***)

This show has three
independent couples in different stages of relationships breakup: 1) a young
teen “breaks up” with her boyfriend (even though he didn’t know they were a
couple) because she thinks a rock star has the hots for her; 2) a fresher
discovers that her boyfriend of three months is a narcissist who readily
sleeps around; and 3) after being unfaithful to his long term girlfriend, a
fellow spends a year trying to rebuild the relationship.While the Lothario story had unbelievable
characters who were played for cheap laughs, the other two stories had their
touching moments mixed with some light touches.A letter supposedly written by rock star
was doubling touching in revealing her naiveté, and her friend’s hidden
feelings.

C Nova

19:30

20:25

21

83.

Growing Pains
(***)

Using rap and
some songs a fellow tells of his leaving an abusive father and unsupportive
friends, going to London, and finding the girl of his dreams.Too familiar.

Underbelly
Cowgate

16:30

17:30

26

84.

Life by the
Throat (***)

The son of an abuser
becomes a petty criminal, and waits until his late 30s to turn his life
around.Another play that seems all
too familiar.

Underbelly
Cowgate

14:00

15:00

26

85.

O is for Hoolet (***)

A woman answers
questions about the Scots dialect.Handing out the pre-written questions seemed a waste of time.

Scottish
Storytelling Centre

19:00

20:15

29

86.

I Keep a Woman
in My Flat Chained to a Radiator (***)

The woman and
her jailer work together to prepare a meal for his dinner date that
evening.She is never mistreated, and
chooses to be chained, but there is no element of S&M to be seen.

Zoo

16:00

16:45

29

87.

House and
Amongst the Reeds (***)

This show
presents two independent stories: 1) after five years, an ostracized daughter
returns for her mother’s birthday; and 2) a homeless pregnant Vietnamese girl
finds support in an upbeat Black girl.The interactions between the two daughters and their hard mother is
riveting, and enough for any show.The
second, less complex, play pales by comparison.

Assembly George
Square

12:00

13:30

18

88.

Escape from the
Planet of the Day that Time Forgot (***)

This spoof has
a 1930s scientist, his young female assistant, and a college student climb aboard
an ironing board spaceship to search for the source of an unusual
meteorite.For the most part, they
keep a light touch with many quips that maintains the tone.A couple sequences are overlong, and a
second expedition has little to add.

Assembly Roxy

11:50

12:50

13

89.

Nicole
Henriksen is Makin’ It Rain (***)

Nicole
alternates between one of her strip tease routines and telling of her life as
a stripper.She does a good job of
asserting that all women in the various levels of the sex trade deserve to be
treated fairly without prejudice.However, the tales from her non-professional life feel like just
another self-indulgent Fringe autobiography.

Underbelly
Cowgate

17:50

19:00

8

90.

Daffodils (A
Play with Songs) (***)

In New Zealand an
engaging young man marries a quirky farm girl, but they find that their life
is twisted by his father’s adultery.This seemed like a play that was good, but should have been presented
in a Fringe venue other than the Traverse.

Traverse

varies

varies

11

91.

Cosmic Fear or
the The Day Brad Pitt Got Paranoia (***)

Brad Pitt,
Angelina Jolie, and a movie producer work through a seemingly endless series
of movie scenarios starring Pitt addressing the global climate change.

Bedlam Theatre

15:00

16:00

7

92.

Three for Two
by Phil Booth (***)

This show is
composed of three independent stories: 1) a house painter negotiates the
price his client must pay to photograph him; 2) an older, wealthy gay must
deal with his doubts about his young lover; and 3) a footballer’s butler is
conflicted about the player’s indiscretions.These are good clean plays that are well acted, but nothing sets them
apart.

Zoo

18:15

19:25

15

93.

How is Uncle
John? (***)

This two hander
has a smitten teenager go to Italy with her Greek lover only to be forced
into the sex trade while her mother copes with her disappearance by limiting
herself to her own house.

Assembly Hall
Mound

15:00

16:00

4

94.

A Good Clean
Heart (***)

A Welsh adopted
teenager goes to London to meet his brother and mother for the first
time.Though his is half-brother is of
Jamaican descent, that is decidedly secondary to his urban naiveté.

Underbelly
Cowgate

18:40

19:40

6

95.

Delphine (***)

A meek, naïve 30-year
old woman tells of her experiences with her first boyfriend that started just
four months ago.

Pleasance
Courtyard

14:15

15:15

28

96.

Royal Vauxhall
(***)

In 1988,
Princess Diana, Freddy Mercury, and Kenny Everett head over to the Royal
Vauxhall Tavern to party.

Underbelly Med
Quad

22:10

23:25

25

97.

Discretion
Guaranteed (***)

Cast of four
assault the audience with a wide range of scenes that all have to deal with
aspects of the phone sex industry.Powerful at times, but uneven and unfocused.

Paradise in the
Vault

20:25

21:25

25

98.

Deal with the
Dragon (***)

This solo show
has a dragon/devil character in human form encourage an artist to greater
accomplishments.This update of the
Dr. Faustus story set in San Francisco works well.His German accent added a subtle air of
menace to the dragon character.

C Nova

20:30

21:40

21

99.

Swansong (***)

Global warming
has left four people in a pedal boat in the middle of an ocean trying to
figure out what they should write in a diary.It was cute at times, but in the end it was just fluff.

Pleasance
Courtyard

17:00

18:00

28

100.

Agent of
Influence: The Secret Life of Pamela Moore (***)

In the late
1930s, a high society journalist is recruited to help determine if Edward
VIII is spying for the NAZIs.The
initial idea of her doing an in depth piece on Wallace Simpson as cover made
perfect sense, but having her jump out of a plane to retrieve a bathing suit
strained credulity beyond the breaking point.Similarly, there was no need for her to disrobe.

Underbelly
Cowgate

14:40

15:40

19

101.

Foehn
Effect (***)

A young woman
tells of her robbery and rape at knife point in the Canary Islands, and
dealing with the authorities and her family afterwards.Though powerful, and well told, there was nothing
new here for me.

C nova

19:00

20:00

14

102.

Bucket List
(***)

The daughter of
Mexican woman killed for protesting work conditions vows the kill the people
responsible.The play does a good job
of conveying the squalor of the maquiladora towns along the Mexican border,
and the protagonist is powerful in her role.However, her character and the play are overambitious when they spend
time dealing with international leaders.

Pleasance Dome

15:50

17:20

17

103.

Northanger
Abbey (***)

This adaptation
of the Jane Austen novel using a raft of puppets playing the secondary
characters worked pretty well even for someone who did not know the
story.Despite its brevity, the play
succeeds in connecting the critical parts of the story in a sensible
manner.I must admit that I did doze
in a couple of the quieter passages, but my companions thoroughly enjoyed it.

Underbelly
Cowgate

11:40

12:50

19

104.

Touch Therapy
(***)

Based on an
event in 1975, a therapist to treat a lesbian wife by forcing her to have sex
with her husband.While the
skittishness of the wife worked well, adding a repulsion to being touched at
all seemed to push her issue beyond that of just being a lesbian.

Paradise in the
Vault

15:45

16:25

15

105.

Breakfast
Plays: The Girl in the Machine (***)

A junior
partner in a law firm is tasked with dealing with the legal problems arising
from an app that creates new music from the music of dead song writers, but
also offers to upload the user’s mind.

Traverse

9:00

9:45

28

106.

A Number by Caryl Churchill (***)

A man must deal
with a series of clones of his dead son, each with a different level of
acceptance of his situation.

C nova

18:55

19:50

27

107.

Overshadowed
(***)

A high school
girl asserts control over her life by choosing to become anorexic at the behest
of a beguiling, rhyming monster.Each
of the portrayals of her sister, mother, and boyfriend seem spot on, but the
scene in which she makes the choice because of a spoiled math homework
doesn’t provide enough background for such a momentous decision.She was supposedly quite popular in school,
and yet she has no close friend in which to confide.

Assembly Roxy

14:30

14:30

13

108.

All the Things
I Lied About (***)

A young woman
presents a survey of the lies she tells from white lies to being unfaithful to
her lovers.She explored the topic
reasonably well, but the show deteriorated when she got the audience involved
with squirt guns.

Summerhall

16:40

17:40

10

109.

Breakfast
Plays: The Conversation (***)

The playwright
Rob Drummond gets drunk and has a conversation with an online chatBot about a wide range of subjects.As a computer scientist, I could understand
the logic underlying her answers.

Traverse

9:00

9:45

27

110.

Hair of the Dog
with Village Pub Theatre, Aug 8 (***)

Five short
plays read script in hand all dealing with relationships between couples.

Traverse

10:00

11:00

8

111.

Hair of the Dog
with Village Pub Theatre, Aug 15 (***)

Five short plays
read script in hand all dealing with the aftermath of a long night of
drinking.

Traverse

10:00

11:00

15

112.

Hair of the Dog
with Village Pub Theatre, Aug 15 (***)

Five short
plays read script in hand all dealing with disoriented people.Because of the topic, three of the plays
were just too incoherent for me.The
one gem had two aliens from another planet tasting Edinburgh pub life.

Traverse

10:00

11:00

22

113.

Breakfast
Plays: Bin Head (***)

After being
ejected from a bar a woman talks with a paranoid man who is afraid to take
his head out of a bin.

Traverse

9:00

10:00

26

114.

Adventures of a
Redheaded CoffeshopGirl(***)

A young
Canadian woman serves an internship with Jane Goodall in her chimpanzee
compound.

Gilded Balloon
Teviot

16:15

17:15

6

115.

The Gin
Chronicles: A Scottish Adventure (***)

After treating
us to a gin and tonic, we are treated to a 1947 radio mystery in which NAZIs
are trying to steal all of the juniper berries in Scotland.The four actors and sound effects fellow
try to maintain the whimsy, but there a many lapses.The final fight scene is particularly
worthless.

artSpace
at St Mark’s

18:30

19:30

19

116.

In Tents and
Purposes (***)

Two
twentysomething women have divergent career paths with one succeeding, and
the other still looking for a job after ten years.

Assembly George
Square

13:30

14:30

10

117.

In Fidelity
(***)

Rob Drummon asks single volunteers to come on stage, pares
them down to two, and then asks them questions concerned with dating and
fidelity.The questions range from
their opinions to facts about their very personal lives.In general, I find audience participation
shows to feel like a cheap thrill at the participants’ expense, and this show
has that distasteful quality.

Traverse

varies

varies

4

118.

A Common Man:
The Bridge That Tom Built (***)

An actor
presents the life of the Thomas Paine, the American Revolutionary War writer
and orator.This is a straightforward
mix of history and biography that was informative and entertaining enough

C Nova

20:15

21:25

5

119.

Expensive Shit
(***)

Set in a
Nigerian night club bathroom, its attendant and three other women scheme to
escape their lives by “pulling” a man, or developing impressive dance
routines.

Traverse

varies

varies

4

120.

Calisto: A Queer
Epic (***)

Four
independent stories from across time are interleaved: 1) An lesbian
post-Elizabethan actress’ lover poses as her husband; 2) Turing dealing with
his deceased lover’s mother; 3) a 1980s Nebraska woman leaves her husband to
make porn films in California; and 4) in the distant future a man only has
only a male android to keep him company.The stories are so diverse that the interweaving requires that small
cast to make many costume changes that would be unnecessary if they would
present the stories as an anthology.As is, the interleaving reduces the flow and impact of each.

Pleasance Dome

11:50

13:00

22

121.

Philip
Pullman’s The Ruby in the Smoke (***)

This murder
mystery has a young woman victim trying to follow the clues in a letter to
find a ruby left to her by her slain father.The tale is confusing because it has just too many plot twists to fit
into its one hour slot.Add another hour, and it could be very
good.

Pleasance Dome

12:00

13:00

15

122.

Driftwood (***)

Five
gymnasts/acrobats try to amalgamate dance and circus routines.At its heart, this is a series of short
circus acts separated by short movement pieces that add nothing.Particularly worthless were the five
sections where each actor has their chance to interact with a lamp that is
lowered from the ceiling in their own uninspired way.

Assembly George
Square

15:30

16:30

24

123.

Wil Greenway:
The Way the City Ate the Stars (***)

Greenway, with
an occasional assist from singer and a guitarist presents a tale of an unrequited
lover and an uncle responding to an accidental request for help from a woman
in labor.Wil is a good storyteller,
but there is nothing exceptional here.His two assistants contributed nothing other than a way to create
space between sections of the stories.

Underbelly Med
Quad

16:10

17:10

22

124.

Private Manning
Goes to Washington (***)

The computer
programmer/activist Aaron Swartz asks a friend to help him write a play that
would have Chelsea Manning confront President Obama about his approach to
whistle blowing.I was pleased that
the friend was allowed to voice an argument damning Manning’s action, but it
was clear that the playwright sided with the whistle blower.But the real problem was that the two men
were just cyphers for a debate, and had no real lives.

theSpace
on Niddry St.

22:10

23:10

24

125.

Greater Belfast
(***)

Matt Regan
“sings” and speaks of Belfast as a string quartet plays in the
background.The quartet was beautiful,
but I could rarely understand his him, and found his songs repetitive and
jarring.However, my Scottish friend
found that “the blend of emotive language and beautiful music conveying the
atmosphere of Belfast created a wonderful theatrical experience.”

Traverse

varies

varies

4

126.

Perfidious Lion
(***)

For this solo show
Bettine Mackenzie is always in the character of a
high strung widow creating a formal dinner party for five friends in the
servant quarters of her rundown manor.From her inconsiderate interactions with her Columbian maid to her
snide remarks to the façade of normality Mackenzie creates a seamless and
believable character.But single
perspective is the downfall of the play as we have no explanation for all of
the other character’s odd reactions to her.

Underbelly
Cowgate

11:20

12:20

4

127.

E15(***)

A group of
pregnant women refuse to be evicted from their council hostel, and promote an
ongoing protest promoting use of boarded up houses that are in fine
condition.

Summerhall

18:30

19:40

9

128.

Villain (***)

For me, this
one woman show had three characters: an
understanding social worker who rushed between clients, the title character
who had been reviled in the media for her crime, and a successful
telemarketer who begins to doubt her job.In reality there were only two characters, but the poor delineation
and chaotic time stream made this difficult to apprehend.

Underbelly Med
Quad

20:20

21:20

11

129.

Jules Verne’s
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (***)

In the mid 19th century, two survivors of a naval
attack are taken aboard Captain Nemo’s amazing submarine, and then given a
tour of the undersea world.This show
is not as entertaining as “Lighthouse at the End of the World” because of
there is less action, and the settings are more limited.

C Nova

15:15

16:15

27

130.

Erik Satie’s –
Faction (***)

Alistair
McGowan plays a 50-year old Satie who talks a little about his adult life,
and plays works by Satie and Debussy.The music was nice, though a bit repetitive, but I expected more facts
about his life instead of impressions.

Pleasance
Courtyard

12:50

13:50

28

131.

Save + Quit
(***)

This show has
two independent two-handers with the first having a new grammar school
teacher deal with her workload outside the classroom, and a young man
deciding to sell a treasured X-box.The second story again had a man and woman, but the plot evaded both
my companion and me.

Assembly George
Square

12:15

13:15

23

132.

Tank (***)

In the middle
1960s, an inexperienced girl helps John Lilly to try to teach English to
dolphins.The mix of cast hijinks and dolphin
abuse did not sit well with me.It
certainly seemed that the supposedly recorded “verbatim” words of the teacher
should never have been acceptable to her superiors.

Pleasance Dome

10:30

11:30

18

133.

Allison After a
Fire (***)

After a forest fire
destroys their home, a wife has trouble dealing the loss of animal life.This seemed like a one note story cthat moved too slowly for me.

Greenside at
Infirmary Street

22:05

22:50

23

134.

How to Win
Against History (***)

This show depicts
the life of Henry Paget, 5th Marquess of Anglesey after he inherited his vast
family fortune in 1898, and how for the next seven years he spent much of it
on furs, parties, and touring experimental theater in which he starred.The piece is constructed of a mostly series
of scenes out plays with Paget always in a sequined dress joined by his
actor/friend that range from dance hall routines to a narcissistic solo
performance.While I understand the
company choosing to present all the bizarre things the fellow did, keeping
blue dressed persona throughout divorced it from reality, and started to bore
me.

Assembly George
Square

17:40

18:45

18

135.

Wonderman
(***)

In a World War
II, a hospitalized injured Allied pilot repeatedly wakes up in his bed to
find himself in surreal stories.The
stories vary from a boarding house run by murderous landlady to a him being a
country cook who is guided a slaughterhouse for pigs and people.Though the stories are diverse, the grand
reveal does not seem to justify their common theme, nor the play itself.

Underbelly Potterrow

18:05

19:20

13

136.

The Sister
(***)

This character
driven play explores submission and self-esteem as two sisters change their
relationships with two men and each other as their sense of self wanes and
waxes.The idea is interesting but the
play was displaced too far from reality to draw me in.In particular, when one pair ran away from
a pair of hand shadow animals, the play lost my attention.

Paradise in Augustines

10:10

11:15

13

137.

The Trial (***)

This version of
Kafka’s story of a man who is charged with an unknown crime within an arcane
criminal system has the protagonist driven by lust, and a sense of
self-importance.His constant sexual
antics detract from the intended feeling of futility.

Summerhall

20:15

21:35

10

138.

Bonita &
Billie Holiday (***)

Bonita
re-enacts a performance of Billie Holiday right after she left prison.Whether Bonita was tired, or it was a
directorial choice, the whole show felt subdued.The backstage scenes added little to our
understanding of the woman, and her singing lacked both emotion and energy.

Assembly Roxy

21:50

23:00

13

139.

Infinity Pool:
A Modern Retelling of Madame Bovary (***)

A young woman uses
a multimedia presentation, including slides of her texting, to tell the story
of an adulterous woman.She was so
serious about her task that it dampened the whole show for me.

Bedlam Theatre

16:35

17:35

7

140.

The Toyland
Murders (***)

An inspector
and his sergeant investigate a series of murders in a muppet
city.The premise sounds like fun, and
much of the audience of the cast’s friends enjoyed it, but it was
surprisingly dull for me.It seems
that production fell into the trap that loud music and yelling can replace
character motivation and a real mystery plot.

Bedlam Theatre

12:00

1:00

7

141.

World Without
Me (***)

A woman recites
a seemingly endless list of what the world would be like if mankind simply
vanished now.The list was revealing
at times, but since there is no action, I found myself closing my eyes and
allowing her images to just flow through my consciousness as a stream.

Summerhall

11:30

13:00

17

142.

Circleville, Circlevalley (***)

A friend of one
of the participants disrupts the supportive environment of weekly drama
therapy session of a therapist and three of her clients.

Pleasance
Courtyard

23:00

0:00

8

143.

Femage
a Trois (***)

Three women’s
stories.One about caring for senile
demented father was interesting.

theSpace
on Niddry St.

21:05

21:55

26

144.

Happy Together
(***)

A director
“randomly” selects two “audience” members to perform a play using cue cards,
while the show intersperses vignettes from the pair’s future in reverse
chronological order from 2020.While
the acting was fine, the whole production was too “clever” by half as
sometimes the cue cards were read and sometimes they were not, and the
constant removal of set furniture slowed the progress of the show.The whole cue card and audience façade was
superfluous, and the use of a spatula as a threatening knife lent an air of
sloppiness to the production.

C Cubed

18:15

19:10

21

145.

Mr. Incredible
(***)

This solo show
has a fellow repeatedly visiting a therapist and talking about how he misses
his former girlfriend, Holly.This
just seemed like an excuse for quips about modern times and relationships,
with little depth.Even though he was
supposedly talking to a therapist, he had no personal growth.

Underbelly
Cowgate

16:40

17:40

21

146.

Another Fine
Mess (***)

Two men who
have an act performing as Laurel and Hardy, along with a girlfriend, must
deal with an illness of the Hardy actor.Besides the backstage drama, the show does provide a few short
renditions of Laurel and Hardy routines as well as a few very soft shoe
dances.It just seems that the illness
pervades the whole show so that it seems slow and dull.

theSpace on the
Mile

19:05

19:55

24

147.

The Nine Lives
of Antoine de Saint-Expury (***)

A fellow
portrays the author of the “Little Prince” reviews his many exotic aviation
related jobs while his female companion plays Death and his wife.I found his sensitive, breezy personality
charming, but the storyline seemed a blur.

Assembly George
Square

13:25

14:25

22

148.

Hurricane
Michael (***)

Adf
plays the meteorologist Michael Fish who was tasked to improve the viewership
of the BBC weather, but later failed to reported the impending arrival of a
major hurricane.Adf
plays down Fish’s meteorological skill, and plays up his showmanship almost
to slapstick levels.His use of
audience members serves no purpose except to make the play needlessly silly.

Assembly George
Square

14:45

15:45

22

149.

A Remarkable
Person (***)

A writer and
her two alter egos try to figure out how to write a self-help book that will
make her admired without the public seeing that that is her goal.The story highlights the conundrums of such
books with their advice of “trying to play” or improving one’s self by
becoming selfless.While the initial
scenes seem perceptive, the later ones seem just a re-hash of the thesis.

Gideon is a
singer/storyteller with a Rube Goldberg trunk who normally does house
concerts.Though he has a winning
personality, I was left with the feeling that I had just watched a busker who
rented a room.

Pleasance
Courtyard

13:00

14:00

21

151.

Grace (***)

The
gymnast/acrobat Emma Serjeant plays a young woman who reviews her life as a
photographer and lover as recoils from being hit by an automobile.Like “Driftwood,” this show seemed to be a
15-minute circus act that was padded out to be an hour long play with a lot
of replication throughout it.When she
was not repeating the same phrases over and over again, most of her words
were lost in the background music.

Assembly
Checkpoint

17:30

18:30

24

152.

Last Dream (on
Earth) (***)

After being
given headphones, we sit in a darkened room and hear looped music, and
intermittent snippets of stories about the first man in space, and a seaborne
emigration from Morocco.The music was
nice, but nothing special, and the stories were so chopped up that they lost
most of their impact.

Assembly Mound

13:25

14:25

19

153.

XX (***)

Five performers
use an algorithm to decide who will play whom in a series of ten duets, and
which monologue each will do about love and relationships.Not surprisingly, there was no flow to the
scenes, and the play was just a mess.

Paradise in the
Vault

18:55

19:45

28

154.

Revolt.She Said.Revolt Again (***)

This uneven
show addresses revolution in many spheres of life.The chaotic approach was fitting for a
revolution, but also meant much made little sense.However, both the initial scene that had a
man and a woman try to describe their sexual plans in politically correct
ways, and a later scene of a woman simply asking for Mondays off, were both
great.

Traverse

varies

varies

16

On the
Conditions and Possibilities of Hillary Clinton Taking Me as Her Young Lover
(***)

A young fellow
presents a whimsical, but weak PowerPoint presentation argument based on the
title.

Summerhall

13:05

14:05

14

155.

Denton and Me
(***)

A family friend
of actor/playwright Sam Rowe gives him the fictionalized autobiography of the
writer Denton Welch and is deeply influenced by his life and writing
style.Though at times beautiful, the
slow progress of the plot combined with the lousy acoustics of the Anatomy
Lecture Theatre made it difficult for me to keep awake.There was flash in a tea cup that I never
did understand.

Summerhall

15:05

116:20

10

156.

Ada/Ava by
Manual Cinema (***)

A multimedia
presentation of a woman who must deal with the death of sister with whom she
lives in a remote house.The dark
story is accompanied by a cello and guitar that provide an unrelenting somber
tone to the play that put me to sleep with its monotone.

Underbelly Potterrow

16:00

17:00

8

157.

Camille (***)

This story of
the sculptress Camille Claudel was just too sparse and arty for me.

Summerhall

21:10

22:00

15

158.

Troika (***)

This is
composed ten vignettes of sexual pairings with each using one person from the
previous pair until the last contains one from the first.This version is updated from the original
using modern situations and less overt sexual situations.The updates are interesting, but the tale
loses some of its power without the raw equivalence that sex provides.

Space Triplex

11:40

12:30

5

159.

Partial Nudity
(***)

A cocky amateur
male stripper shares a dressing room with a dismissive female professional
stripper.After seeing “Nicole
Henriksen is Makin’ It Rain,” this comes across as quite shallow.

Zoo

19:55

20:45

15

160.

Mr. Kingdom’s
Queen Victoria (***)

Before assuming
the title role, Kingdom admits that he could not get a handle on how to make
the play, and the play reflects that.There is no thread to connect his chaotic presentation of the monarch.

Assembly Mound

16:15

17:30

12

161.

Immaculate
(***)

A woman
discovers that she is pregnant even though she thinks she has not had sex for
a year.She ends up having to deal
with archangel Gabriel arguing with Lucifer, her former lover and his
girlfriend.

C Nova

21:35

22:35

5

162.

The Auld
Alliance (***)

Just before the
Battle of Waterloo, a French ship runs aground off the Fife coast, and the
households nearby must deal with its survivor while searching for a chest of
gold.

Mayfield
Salisbury Church

19:45

22:05

8

163.

TristramShandy: Live at Scotland (***)

The character created
by Laurence Sterne in the middle 18th century, presents his life
to a TV interviewer utilizing a large acting company.This farce did not work well for me because
I had not read the books, and therefore the many allusions to the novels were
lost on me.This one big inside joke
that should be skipped unless you have read the books.

C Nova

21:35

22:45

18

164.

Parish F?te-ality: A Game of Scones
(***)

Farce about a
priest trying to take over the world by murdering a town.

C

19:30

20:30

26

165.

I, Who Have Hands
More Innocent (***)

A woman recites
selections of poetry in written by a Croatian in the 20th century
that reflect her inferior position within that society.Because she recited in Croatian, we had to
read supertitles that were, at times, faster than I could read.When she switched to perfect English for
the last stanza, I wondered why she had not used English throughout—the
sounds of Croatian are not exceptionally pleasing.

Zoo

19:25

20:35

17

166.

Heads Up (***)

A man sits at a
desk and shifts between the lives of four characters as global change alters
many lives.This was just too dense,
and confusing for me.Tim liked it
though.

Summerhall

19:05

20:05

16

167.

Love for Sale
(***)

Accompanied by
a pianist, Kelly Burke portrays a World War II chanteuse sings a seemingly
endless medley of songs of drudgery.Her voice and the song selection lack range, and become boring
quickly.

Assembly Mound

17:45

18:45

14

168.

Krapp
39 (***)

Actor obsessing
about become 39.

Pleasance
Courtyard

11:30

12:40

25

169.

Echoes (***)

Nine years
after he leaves, a husband who returns to see his young daughter finds his
path blocked by her strange mother.The story reveals the state of the dysfunctional marriage well, but
devolves into an ill-founded horror show after that.

Zoo

21:00

21:55

17

170.

Be Prepared
(**)

A chaotic mish
mash of man dealing with the death of his father at a funeral

Underbelly
Cowgate

15:20

16:20

26

171.

Sweet Child of
Mine (**)

A 32-year old Australian
tells of her pursuit of art through a mixture of videos of her parents
talking to her, dance, and spoken word.Her father had toured with her for the past year, but told her only
two weeks ago that he could not join her on stage in Edinburgh.Even had her father been with her, this
would have still been a very self-centered show, though arty.

Gilded Balloon
Te6viot

13:45

14:45

3

172.

Just by Ali
Smith (**)

A policeman
arrests a girl as she is about to remove an umbrella from the back of a
murder victim.From the production
design to the script to the plot to the acting this is mediocre high school
play at best.Don’t bother unless you
are relative of the cast.

Assembly George
Square

13:45

14:45

20

173.

OwlTime
(**)

Contrary to the
Fringe catalog description, this show has a man who really cannot dress
himself presenting a disorganized argument about the ills of the world.The actor is sincere, but seems not quite
all there.

C nova

20:15

21:15

14

174.

Lucy McCormick:
Triple Threat (**)

It seems like
the goal of the show was to see how much gratuitous sex and food mess can be
used in the portrayal of the life of Jesus.She interprets his anointing with oil by smearing mayonnaise on her
body, has a male dancer/angel smear Nutella around her mouth before snogging
and humping Judas, and lifts her leg so the audience can have a clear view of
her repeatedly thrusting Doubting Thomas’ fingers into her vagina to prove
her Jesus has nail holes.I suppose
she achieved her goal, but it seems like a waste of her talents.

Underbelly
Cowgate

20:10

21:10

13

175.

MacBain (*)

Courtney Love
interviews her heroin addicted rock star husband Kurt Cobain, and then they
provide their rendition of Macbeth.Though we often hear Shakespeare’s words, their roles as Macbeth and
his Lady hide with beauty with a lack of conviction and druggy hallucinations
and rants.Though Macbeth is
touchstone, the rambling, repetitive incoherence seemed interminable after
just a half hour of its one and half hours!

Summerhall

20:55

22:10

3

176.

Skrimshanks (*)

Two buffoons
guide ten entering audience members onto the stage, and then leave them
standing there for the whole hour while making fun of them.This was the most mean
spirited show I have seen in years because they belittle people who
were not even volunteers for such abuse.In the show I attended, they brow beat a meek fellow into throwing
away his collection of flyers and then smeared lipstick on his forehead.

Assembly George
Square

22:30

23:30

17

I am a 63-year
old Computer Science lecturer from the University of California in Davis who
thinks even a bad play is better than no play at all.I have been to the Fringe eleven times
before.Twelve years ago, after two
weeks touring France, my wife and I spent nine days of our honeymoon at the
Fringe.We shared 45 plays, and I
attended ten other events besides.In
2005, I fulfilled a dream of seeing an entire Fringe Festival.Since then, I have been here for the whole
Fringe every year except 2007.I have
learned to devote most days to only one venue to maximize the number of
performances I can see.I expect this
year to be similar to last—many performances, and many
new friends.

After
attending more than 1000 performances, I have a much better idea of my biases and
prejudices in the role of a critic.To
limit my analyzing shows during their performances as much as possible, I have
intentionally avoided any training in criticism and the dramatic arts, both
formal and informal.I find that I
prefer fact to fiction, innovation to repetition, coherence to creativity, the
concrete to the symbolic, and cleverness to depth.I realize that many of these are antithetical
to the spirit of the Fringe, but I cannot deny my nature.In particular, I just do not like shows that
push the bounds of creativity beyond my ability to make sense of them.Because I choose to fill time slots with
whatever is available, I still expose myself to such shows, and do not mind.However, I do feel a little guilty giving a
low rating to a show on which a company has worked so hard, and with such
commitment.Nevertheless, I envision
that that is my role—to accurately report my enjoyment so that others may
better use my ratings.In all but a very
few cases, I admire the effort of each company, and wish them well.